Anyone else think Lamar's getting too many minutes?

[Chubby Chaser]

I don't think Phil has used the three 7 footer Lineup of Lamar at the 3 then Pau and Bynum once during the regular season. When Lamar comes in he normally comes in for Bynum, then moves down for Pau. He isn't taking any SF minutes at all, and I don't think Bynum is getting enough Burn. When Andrew sits, he sits for a long time. Andrew is avg. 29 minutes per game, and I don't think this is enough for him. We are such a different team defensively when he's in the game, and when he's out we give up a lot more offensive rebounds and players start attacking the rim immediately on us. I think Phil is too committed to make sure Lamar is getting his minutes coming off the bench that Its hurting us and Andrew. I thought Phil would play Lamar more at the 3 but with the emergence of Ariza, Phil has gone ahead and give him the minutes (as he should) Anyone else feel that Lamar is getting too many minutes taking away from Bynum?

[Mindflayer]

Yes. Bynum should get more minutes. I don't mind now, as long as Bynum gets more burn in the playoffs.

[Minhee]

I think you mean Odom is getting Bynum's minutes and not too many minutes....I think he is getting less than 30 a game...on friday night Odom only logged 20 minutes i think, at least that is what NBA.com said.

[Gerald3Wallace]

lamar too many minutes?? really??
the guy is averaging 26mins a game..compared to 37 last years

[AceFresh]

cosign.^
And he was 5 for 5 last game, and he didn't log in too many mins.

I say whatever matchup favors us, and whoever is playing well should get the majority of mins.

Lamar too many mins? No.

[iamworthy]

I say whatever matchup favors us, and whoever is playing well should get the majority of mins.

[crazyeights]

I think you mean Odom is getting Bynum's minutes and not too many minutes....I think he is getting less than 30 a game...on friday night Odom only logged 20 minutes i think, at least that is what NBA.com said.

Exactly. There was just an article in the OC Register about how Lamar is frustrated with his lack of PT.

So, unless we want to completely implode, I think Lamar needs more minutes. Though when he's in there he needs to be to be more aggressive, especially with that second unit.

I will say though, that Phil has been handling the rotations poorly in the last few games. He'll bring guys in with 2 minutes left in a quarter or something strange like that. This is making guys rot on the bench, which didn't make sense last game, because our starters were completely out of whack, zero team chemistry.

We just have to be careful not to stunt Bynum's growth with a lack of minutes. It's a long season and I think they're just bringing him along slow to make sure his body will make it through the playoffs.

[Minhee]

Seriously we were just pathetic Friday night, I think Odom could have used more PT because I doubt Detroit matches up well with him.

Oh yeah, remember my comments about how Detroit isn't as good as they showed us on Friday? Look at what the Suns is doing to them tonight.

[Lakers8]

One thing has never changed, i love phil but i hate his rotations. We have him to thank for the loss against pistons, Vlad was crap Gasol had zero intensity (u cant look at the box as an indication for gasols game that night), yet somehow lamar only got 20 mins when he shot 5-5. After we broke that lead back we should have been running a lineup of something like Bynum, Lamar, Ariza, Kobe, Farmar. that lineup should see the floor a lot, no one delievers the alley better to Bynum than Farmar. Phils usually techniques of letting players play through slumps is garbage when u have a team this deep, if someone aint playin well they should be straight to the bench.

[iamworthy]

Seriously we were just pathetic Friday night, I think Odom could have used more PT because I doubt Detroit matches up well with him.

Oh yeah, remember my comments about how Detroit isn't as good as they showed us on Friday? Look at what the Suns is doing to them tonight.

Yeah I watching that game. Suns are owning them right now. Lakers just had a bad game...it happens.

[fareweatherfan]

To understand Phil's rotations you must be able to look past the immediate game...with this in mind, Phil's rotations during the Detriot game were great.

Did his rotations lose the game for us? Not in and of themselves, but I agree we could have won the game with different rotations. Thankfully, for those of us that only care about the Chip (which I assume is all of us), Phil wasn't overly concerned with beating Detriot Friday night.

[Chubby Chaser]

Seriously we were just pathetic Friday night, I think Odom could have used more PT because I doubt Detroit matches up well with him.

Oh yeah, remember my comments about how Detroit isn't as good as they showed us on Friday? Look at what the Suns is doing to them tonight.

Yeah I watching that game. Suns are owning them right now. Lakers just had a bad game...it happens.

Ya. I was watching that game too. Shaq looks a lot better than last year. The suns finally figured out that it's better to feed Shaq in the post and let him go to work, instead of handing him the ball at the free throw line in transition.

[DEEP3CL]

Phil has got to figure this thing out, Drew should be at 30-35 a game but Phil has this weird scenario in his mind of Drew tiring all the time.

[Sofa King]

Phil has got to figure this thing out, Drew should be at 30-35 a game but Phil has this weird scenario in his mind of Drew tiring all the time.

I think Phil is just protecting Bynum so he doesn't get tired and injured.

[Chubby Chaser]

Phil has got to figure this thing out, Drew should be at 30-35 a game but Phil has this weird scenario in his mind of Drew tiring all the time.

I think Phil is just protecting Bynum so he doesn't get tired and injured.

No, that's not true. You can't "protect" someone from getting injured as a coach. That's ridiculous. I don't understand Phil sometimes. Ariza is getting more minutes because of his defense. Yet Andrew is our best defender down low and Phil is reluctant to give him 30+ minutes.

This is what I would ideally want to see from the Lakers this year:

-Starting lineup of : Fisher, Kobe, Ariza, Pau, Bynum
-Lamars minutes are divided between SF and PF.
-Bynum gets 35+ minutes a game
-We pound the ball into Pau more. He should touch the ball on every possession, with his passing ability and high percentage fg shots, good things happen when he touches the ball down low and faces up. Pau should avg 15+ shot attempts per game. Ideally 18-20.
- Somehow find more minutes for Sasha. Even if it means he takes some of Farmar's minutes playing the pg off the bench.

[LLcoleJ]

up until Friday (loss) we have been averaging what ? 18 point victory margins? I know there some close games and some lapses at the end. However, hindsight seems to be altered based on last game.

Also, I haven't seen bynum totaly own a game and Phil will make him a little more accountable then others. It's phil plan to keep the newly minted bynum hungry each and every game. Even in lopsided wins ( win or lose)
As far as ian concerned bynum is to be held to a different standard than our other big 3.

Ariza is a different story and is surprisngly earning his big minutes in a way Bynum needs too.

[Danny Darko]

I don't think Phil has used the three 7 footer Lineup of Lamar at the 3 then Pau and Bynum once during the regular season. When Lamar comes in he normally comes in for Bynum, then moves down for Pau. He isn't taking any SF minutes at all, and I don't think Bynum is getting enough Burn. When Andrew sits, he sits for a long time. Andrew is avg. 29 minutes per game, and I don't think this is enough for him. We are such a different team defensively when he's in the game, and when he's out we give up a lot more offensive rebounds and players start attacking the rim immediately on us. I think Phil is too committed to make sure Lamar is getting his minutes coming off the bench that Its hurting us and Andrew. I thought Phil would play Lamar more at the 3 but with the emergence of Ariza, Phil has gone ahead and give him the minutes (as he should) Anyone else feel that Lamar is getting too many minutes taking away from Bynum?

I think Vlade gets too many minutes... to me Odom should be playing 1/3 to 1/5 of Vlade's minutes and Vlade's should go to Drew unless Vlade is tearing it up and Lamar is too. I think when you take a starter like Lamar and make him a reserve, you absolutely have to make sure he's still getting plenty of burn. Lamar has been doing all the little things with rebounding and D and despite his low scoring numbers I don't think we trade him for one single player of his caliber that would play bench minutes, and we also don't need two roll players as a trade for him. I do agree Andrew could use more time, but I also like what we've done.

[Erik Eleven]

Was Phil doing one of his nationally televised class room games again? There always seems to be a couple or so per year. Plus, he more or less always let's the starters of a game finish a game. Personally, I'd love it if my coach had my back like that. Obviously, they earned their starting position so why wouldn't he trust them to redeem themselves?

One loss, and the fans start complaining about his rotations again. Sure, we all know that they're not always perfect, but you have to give him credit for how masterly he always paces all his teams through the marathon that is a full season. They will be peaking just at the right time, as always.

Bynum will see more minutes as soon as he gets up to tempo and his conditioning is 100%. It's not Odom's "fault" that Bynum isn't at peak form. Bynum is still struggling running the floor and it costs us a few buckets per game. He needs to be brought along just right so that he's fully explosive come playoffs time. I think that's what PJ is doing. Patience.

[DEEP3CL]

It's phil plan to keep the newly minted bynum hungry each and every game. Even in lopsided wins ( win or lose)
As far as im concerned bynum is to be held to a different standard than our other big 3.

Ariza is a different story and is surprisingly earning his big minutes in a way Bynum needs too.

Sounds like the "Whippin Boy " theory to me................I'm just saying, Phil is known to do that to guys early in their career. Did so with Pippen, Horace Grant and even Robert Horry when he first got here.

[dockingsched]

this title can't be serious. lamar getting TOO many minutes? wow